Scouse (food)

Scouse

Type	Stew
Region or state	England
Main ingredients	Beef or lamb, root vegetables

Scouse is a type of stew typically made from meat (usually beef or lamb) with potatoes, carrots and onion. It is particularly associated with the port of Liverpool; the inhabitants of that city are often referred to as "scousers".

The word "scouse" comes from lobscouse, a stew commonly eaten by sailors from the whole of northern Europe in the past, and surviving in different forms there today.

Description

The food writer Felicity Cloake describes scouse as being similar to Irish stew or Lancashire hotpot, though generally using beef rather than lamb. ^[1] Although ingredients can vary, the essentials are potatoes, carrots, onions and diced meat, gently simmered together. ^[1]

A survey by The Liverpool Echo in 2018 confirmed that for the majority of cooks the basic ingredients are potatoes, carrots, onion and chunks of meat, though many advocated the addition of a stock cube, and a few also added other ingredients, such as peas, lentils or sweet potato, and herbs including rosemary, parsley and basil. ^[2] The choice of meat varied: some cooks did not stipulate a particular meat; among those who did, beef was chosen rather than lamb by a majority of nearly two to one. ^{[2] [n 1]}

A dish of scouse, with beetroot and crusty bread.

Although some argue that anything other than beef, potatoes, carrots, and onion is not scouse, others observe that, as a thrift dish, scouse will contain "whatever veg you had [and] the cheapest cuts of meat". ^[2] Some recipes suggest including marrowbones to thicken the stew. ^[3] Proportions of ingredients vary, from equal amounts of meat and vegetables to a 1:5 proportion between meat and potato. ^[4] A meatless version, known as "blind scouse", is also recorded, for people who could not afford meat – and latterly for vegetarians. ^[5] Scouse is often served with pickled red cabbage or beetroot and crusty bread. ^[4]

Origin

Scouse is strongly associated with the city of Liverpool and its hinterland in the north-west of England. Other parts of the country were slower to begin growing potatoes, but they were cultivated in Lancashire from the late 17th century onwards. ^[6] By the late 18th century the potato-based lobscouse had become a traditional dish of the region. ^[7] A reference from 1785 refers to "lobs-couse, a dish much eaten at sea, composed of salt beef, ship's biscuit, and onions, well peppered and stewed together". ^[8] A 1797 description records that potatoes were:

peeled, or rather scraped, raw; chopped, and boiled together with a small quantity of meat cut into very small pieces. The whole of this mixture is then formed into a hash, with pepper, salt, onions, etc., and forms a cheap and nutritive dish". ^[9]

A similar recipe was used by nineteenth-century sailors, ^[10] and such dishes are traditional in countries around the North Sea, such as Norway ( lapskaus ), Sweden ( lapskojs ), Finland (lapskoussi), Denmark, ( skipperlabskovs ), and northern Germany ( Labskaus ). ^[11]

Etymology

Edward Ward's reference to "lobscouse", 24 November 1706

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) states that "scouse" is a shortened form of "lobscouse", ^[12] the oldest citation for which in the OED is by the satirist Edward Ward (1706). ^[13] Tobias Smollett refers to "lob's course" in 1750. ^[13] The roots of the word are unknown. ^[12] The OED's earliest citation for the shortened form "scouse" dates from 1840. ^[12] In the twentieth century the terms "scouse" and "scouser" began to be applied to Liverpudlians. ^[12]

According to The Oxford Companion to Food , lobscouse "almost certainly has its origins in the Baltic ports, especially those of Germany". ^[11] The German philologist Friedrich Kluge dates its first appearance in German in 1878, and concludes that the usage spread from Britain to northern Europe rather than vice versa. ^[14] Kluge asserts that the origin of the word is unknown, and that it was loaned to German in the 19th century, where it was called labskaus. ^[15] There are similar terms in Norwegian, Danish, Latvian and Lithuanian. ^{[n 2]}

By the mid-19th century the term "lobscouse" had been shortened to "scouse" in Liverpudlian usage. In his book The State of the Poor: or a History of the Labouring Classes in England (1797), Sir Frederick Eden cites a report from the early 1790s listing expenditure on food in the Liverpool poorhouse. It included "Beef, 101 lbs. [46 kg] for scouse … 14 Measures potatoes for scouse [420 lb or 190 kg]; and Onions for ditto [28 lb or 13 kg]". ^[20]

Variations

Lobscouse is also remembered in other parts of the country. In the Potteries, a similar stew is known as "lobby", ^[21] and people from Leigh, Greater Manchester, are known as "lobby-gobblers". ^[22] In North Wales the full form is retained as "lobsgows" (Welsh: lapsgóws). ^{[23] [24]} A version of scouse has been known on the Atlantic coast of Canada in Newfoundland and Labrador, from at least 1792. It is described as a sea dish of minced and salted beef, crumbled sea biscuit, potatoes and onions. ^[25]

Global Scouse Day

Since 2000 there has been an annual International or Global Scouse Day held, where bars, cafés and restaurants in Liverpool and around the world put scouse on the menu for the day, raising funds for charities. ^{[26] [27]}

See also

• Food portal

• Cawl
• List of lamb dishes
• List of stews
• Scotch broth
• Kaldereta
• List of meat and potato dishes

Notes

1. A small minority used pork or tofu. ^[2]
2. Hjalmar Falk and Alf Torp state that lobscous originally was lob's course from a lob (a lump) and course (a dish) and that the word has travelled to Norwegian as lapskaus and Danish as lobskous. ^[16] . The similarities with labs kauss in Latvian and labas kaušas in Lithuanian is called gobbledygook (Kauderwelsch) of the mind in Der Spiegel by Petra Foede. ^[17] Foede translates Labs kausis to means a "good plate" in Latvian, and says that in Lithuanian they use labas káuszas for a "good plate". ^[17] According to Gerhard Bauer káuszas in Lithuanian means a wooden ladle or dipper or a wooden drinking bowl and is the same word as Lettish kauśis and this Baltic word has been adopted in German as Kausche or Kauszel which means wooden jug, pitcher or drinking bowl. ^[18] Konrad Reich  [ de ] claims that Labskaus stems from a combination of Lappen, Lappenstücke or Bauchlappen  [ de ] from the pig and a Low German word Kaus which he explains as a plate or platter and concludes that Labskaus is a paraphrase for a plate of minced pork. ^{[19] : 355}

References

1. Cloake, Felicity. "How to cook the perfect scouse – recipe", The Guardian, 30 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2020
2. Davis, Laura "Revealed: Liverpool's favourite Scouse ingredients", Liverpool Echo, 27 February 2018
3. "Lobscouse casserole". The Hairy Bikers . BBC Food. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
4. O'Grady, Paul. "Paul O'Grady's Scouse". nigella.com. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
5. Crowley (2017), p. 35
6. Zuckerman, p. 56
7. Wilson, p. 218
8. Grose, p. 104
9. Pike, p. 160
10. Draper, p. 15
11. Shipperbottom, p. 472
12. "scouse" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
13. "lobscouse" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
14. Crowley (2017), pp. 157–158
15. Friedrich Kluge (1989). "Labskaus". Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (in German) (22 ed.). Berlin; New York: de Gruyter. p.  423. doi:10.1515/9783110845037. ISBN   3-11-006800-1. S2CID   62272098. Labskaus n. (= Seemannsgericht), nordd. Im 19. Jh. entlehnt aus ne. lobscouse, dessen Herkunft unklar ist. [The first edition of the dictionary was published in 1883.]
16. Falk, Hjalmar; Torp, Alf (1903). "Hug". Etymologisk Ordbog over det norske og det danske Sprog (in Norwegian). Kristiania: Aschehoug. p. 439.
17. Petra Foede (27 August 2010). "Hamburger Labskaus. Heißer Brei mit Ei". Spiegel Online (in German). Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
18. Bauer, Gerhard (2005). "Baltismen im ostpreußischen Deutsch Hermann Frischbiers "Preussisches Wörterbuch" als volkskundliche Quelle" (PDF). Annaberger Annalen (in German). 13: 5–82. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2018. Lit. káuszas hölzerner Schöpflöffel, hölzerne Trinkschale, lett. kauśis, kausts, kausinsch Napf, Schale, Becher, estn. Kause Schale, Napf, Schüssel, sanskr. koshas Behältnis zum Auf- bewahren, Tresor. Nsslm. Th., 68. Hupel, 107. Sallmann, 19a. Grimm, Wb. V, 362. Im Brem. Kausse hölzerner Schöpflöffel, in Pommern Kowse Schale.
19. Konrad Reich [in German]; Martin Pegel. "Labskaus". Himmelsbesen über weißen Hunden (in German). Berlin: transpress VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen. pp. 352–355. Und so «erfand» ein ideenreicher und mitfühlender Koch dies pürierte Pökelfleisch. Lappen, Lappenstücke und Bauchlappen des Rindes wirden dazu verwendet. Die erste Silbe weist darauf hin: Das niederdeutsche ‹Kaus› ist eine Schüssel, eine Schale, so daß ‹Labskaus› eine Umschreibung fur «eine Schüssel Gehacktes» ist.
20. Crowley (2012), p. 158
21. "Staffordshire Lobby". allrecipes.co.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
22. McAlpine, Fraser. "From "Monkey-hangers" to "Spireites": Affectionate nicknames for Townspeople". BBC America . Retrieved 19 November 2020.
23. "Lobscaws and Llymru: Welsh food and recipes". The National Library of Wales. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
24. "lobscaws". kimkat.org. An Internet dictionary of Welsh for speakers of English. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
25. Clarke, p. 112
26. "Global Scouse Day 2020: Everything you need to know". The Guide. Liverpool. 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
27. "Global Scouse Day". Global Scouse Day. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.

Sources

• Clarke, Sandra (2010). Newfoundland and Labrador English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN   978-0-7486-3141-4.
• Crowley, Tony (2012). Scouse: A Social and Cultural History. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN   978-1-84631-839-9.
• Crowley, Tony (2017). The Liverpool English Dictionary: A Record of the Language of Liverpool 1850–2015. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-1-78694-061-2.
• Draper, Charla (2001). Cooking on Nineteenth Century Whaling Ships. Mankato Minnesota: Blue Earth Books. ISBN   978-0-7368-0602-2.
• Falk, Hjalmar; Alf Torp (1903). "Hug". Etymologisk Ordbog over det norske og det danske Sprog (in Norwegian). Kristiania: Aschehoug. OCLC   312783058.
• Grose, Frances (1785). A Classical Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue. London: S. Hooper.
• Kluge, Friedrich (1989). "Labskaus". Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (in German) (22 ed.). Berlin and New York: de Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783110845037. ISBN   978-3-11-006800-9. S2CID   62272098.
• Pike, Edgar Royston (2014). Human Documents of Adam Smith's Time. London: Routledge. ISBN   978-1-135-17509-2.
• Reich, Conrad; Martin Pagel (1988). Himmelsbesen über weißen Hunden (in German). Rostock: Reich. ISBN   978-3-86167-030-8.
• Shipperbottom, Roy (2014) [1999]. "lobscouse". In Davidson, Alan (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Food (third ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-104072-6.
• Wilson, C. Anne (1991). Food & Drink in Britain: From the Stone Age to the 19th Century. London: Constable. ISBN   978-0-09-470760-3.
• Zuckerman, Larry (1998). The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World. Boston: Faber and Faber. ISBN   0-57-119951-8.

External links

• Traditional recipe on BBC website